Imagine entering a house with so many doors and hallways. Feasts straight out of Redwall and an endless supply of scenic vistas can be found behind some of those doors. There are jack-in-the-boxes behind other doors that pop up when you crack the door open, and they dangle lasciviously on rusty springs as a creaky, vaguely circus- themed song plays.
That is how I navigate the internet. When I click on a link, I have to ask myself if it is going to be Bozo the clown or something delightful and captivating.
When it comes to animated and moving content, the internet is stimulating, but not in a good way. Something about the wiring of my brain makes it difficult to process animations or repetitive movements, like the blinker you leave on for the last five miles, turning them into an accessibility issue.
Digital animation is being used more and more. You probably don't notice the little ornamental doodle. There is a loop of the effect on the photo sharing site. There are giant animated snots that chase you. When it follows you down the page it's autoplay video. Our internet existence is plagued by flashing ads. Parallax scrolling is the best way to view sexy data. ggling menu for your attention There is an animation at the edge of a tab.
I want to leave the world of motion that we are in.
No medical professional has been able to adequately explain or treat whatever my brain does when it encounters animations
No medical professional has been able to explain or treat what my brain does when it encounters animation. I am constantly navigating around the desperate desire to avoid them, ducking out of zooms when people start running animation on their powerpoints, using every ad, image, and element blocker known to man and a few besides, militantly opposing even a whiff of animation on any project where I It feels like a losing battle when someone adds an "under construction" to a site.
This is a place that isn't very enjoyable to be, and it's not because I don't like using the internet. I know the internet loves animation and uses it in creative ways that stretch beyond Steve Wilhite's wildest dreams. They have become an entire form of communication, with many dunks consisting of a single Gif. Data can be enriched and simplified with the help of animation. I want to be a part of it and I don't want it to go down.
The buttons are rendered nonoperative when I block anything ending in.gif. The result is not very enjoyable when I load a site without styles. I can block ads, but I can't read nice websites that make money. One of my allies is Twitter, which struck a blow when it allowed users to freeze autoplay on all moving content. Users who love them are able to post them. Reducing server load is good for the case exceptions.
These issues are weird in multiple ways. People have a frame of reference if someone tells them that some animations with flashing features can cause seizures. It doesn't always mean they'll respect the risk, but they understand it It sounds like nonsense when I say that animations are incredibly disruptive. If you are reading or thinking about this, you are not the first. Sensitivity to animation is often dismissed or denied because: Come on, who can't handle a little animation? Is it true that auto-refreshing content can cause you to throw? What do you think about watching TV? I can do small screens at home.
It is a feeling that other disabled people have. Some people with attention deficit disorder like to wear headphones all the time and listen to music to help them concentrate. People with severe chemical sensitivity may not be able to enter older buildings, stores that stock strongly scented products or structures with new carpets and paint. Migraine sufferers can't use screens or work in bright environments. A person with severe anxiety may need a disability placard for their car so they can get in and out of businesses quicker.
No documentation can cover every possible scenario
This isn't just about animation. The internet and the world at large have a huge accessibility problem and people tend to think that adhering to documented standards will solve it, when in reality, no documentation can cover every scenario. The disability community needs to talk about access. No place can be all things to all people and any series of design choices will result in inaccessibility, with people giving conflicting feedback in the discovery phase. There is no checklist to solve this, and accessibility is constantly evolving and changing. A chance to design something really unique and interesting that stands out and shows that access is beautiful, not just practical, is another cool opportunity. Access can be art, as evidenced by the performance by the dance company Kinetic Light that integrates access tools such as ramps and wheelchairs along with audio description.
There are two approaches to web access, starting with functional tools that we can use to set up the internet to meet our needs, while other users can enjoy the horrible things you see on the internet. One way to think about user experience is to think creatively. I'm not the only one who struggles with parallax scrolling, it's not just because it moves in troubling ways It is difficult for screen readers to work with when it is being used for a graphics heavy display of data It seems fair that other people don't like it. There is the same data presented with the same care. Can you encourage disabled users to work with you? Think of access as an opportunity to think outside the box.
There are decisions made by developers about how inaccessibility might manifest. There is an access issue, but what if there is something cool in there? Giving me more control over the issue will allow me to decide when and how to interact with it. I would like to make my own decisions as a grownup.
Many disabled web users want to be on the inside looking out.
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